One of the local TV station in Salt Lake is doing a report about these kits. I can't remember which one it is but I think it is on tonight. If I see another ad for it, I'll post the station and the time.

The station that ran a report on these testing kits was Fox 13 in Salt Lake City. It must have been on last night, Feb. 26th. I missed it. The report is on their website. It mainly reported on the privacy concerns about what happens or can happen to your information.

* DNA is only the result of a fraction of your ancestry.* The results and interpretation they give is questionable.* They probably sell on your DNA to health insurers, and are building up a database on people like Facebook and Google do.

tumwater Wrote:-------------------------------------------------------> With various message streams regarding ancestry,> heredity, family lines, which of the various> services would be considered the best?>> Any recommendations?>> The stream on Jews in CO and NM in Spanish> families has me intrigued, I'm from northern NM> and come from Spanish heritage.One that reports your Neanderthal DNA, like 23andme. I found out I am 2.8% Neanderthal and I have 160 relatives that I now know of and can communicate with, all over the world.

I find the whole process interesting. BTW, I had 271 Neanderthal traits. A first cousin popped up on my relative list and I contacted him and asked why I didn't know him. It turns out he was adopted (more family secrets) and we had a good time over text and email finding our family. We have the same Great Grand parents.

I hope to have your experience one day. My father was adapted and never knew his birth parents / relatives. All his life, he always wondered if he just ran into a brother, sister and other family member whenever we took vacations.He died a few years ago, before I paid attention to ancestry DNA,They weren’t all over tv as they are now.That would of made his day to get his own true results back.I did my mom’s and mine last year, mainly to try to find someone from my fathers side by elimination.She had what we expected, except she had ALSO some 10 % middle eastern and 6% Jewish , 46 % Southern Europe , that we didn’t know.I had 34% British, and 16% Western Europe,which I knew, but 11% Jewish , 16% Eastern Europe, but only 6% Greek, which my mom only got 35%, her dad was supposed to be 100% Greek, that’s all he ever talked about, turns out he probably had some middle eastern in him that he didn’t know about or was hiding.I also had 4% Russian , few other traces.So, I figured the Eastern European and Russian was on his side, since it didn’t show up on hers.I was confused about the Jewish part though, how could I get 11% Jewish if my mom is only 6%?I hope I find some of my relatives on my dads side.

tumwater Wrote:-------------------------------------------------------> The stream on Jews in CO and NM in Spanish> families has me intrigued, I'm from northern NM> and come from Spanish heritage.

A prospective "Welcome to the tribe!" tumwater... :D

If you go to YouTube and do a search for: "Dr. Henry Abramson, Sephardim," a number of really interesting lectures will come up, some of which I have already seen and highly recommend, and others which I have yet to see.

Dr. Abramson (who is a historian; he teaches history at university level) is in the midst of a new series right now, titled "The Sephardic Diaspora."

I just finished listening to Part 3: "Who Was the Chida?"...and I am looking forward to listening to Part 1 and Part 2 of this new series (I often listen to his lectures when I am working in the kitchen).

[EDITED TO ADD: I have just finished Part 1, which is a well-done and well-presented overview of this history, but may be a bit overly detail-rich as an easy Intro. In my life, I have always (instinctively) looked for the "most easily accessible door" to enter a subject new to me, and this optimum "new door" has often proven to be sideways or peripheral to the main subject I am trying to learn. For me, I think, right now, that Part 3 would have been an easier-for-me "entry door"...but I also haven't heard Part 2 yet, so consider this a preliminary report which is subject to future revision. And to clarify: mostly I am listening to these lectures first, as I work in the kitchen or wherever, and I look at the video screen when there is something I really want to see at that moment. Then later, when I am NOT working in the kitchen or whatever, I actually VIEW the video. :) ]

[EDITED TO ADD: I just finished Part 2, the title of which is going to sound both odd and arcane: "Who Was Samuel Usque?," a person I had never heard of before a few hours ago---and very probably no one reading this has probably ever heard about before either. Regardless, Part 2 of this series is a pivotal presentation, in that it explains not only "why" and "how" Portugal became so mixed-up in all this (which is a very important part of the story), but FAR more importantly, it explains the HUMAN story which WAS the living reality of the Jews, and the "hidden Jews"/"Christians," of the pre-Inquisition (including the Expulsion) period...the Inquisition itself period...and the [mostly] post-Inquisition period (which includes the Spanish colonization of what is now the southwestern United States).

If you want to know the human story of the people who actually lived those lives, Part 2 of this series is where to begin---even if you, like me, had never heard the name "Samuel Usque" before today.]

If your brain initially works better with facts, dates, and data points, then my recommendation is that you begin this series with Part 1.

If you are more interested in the human story of the PEOPLE who did these things, and WHY they did these things, then I recommend beginning with Part 2.

The other important item of note is: as part of this new series, there will be (in a week or two, if I am remembering correctly) an evidently to-the-point presentation specifically about the "Crypto-Jews" [meaning: "secret Jews"..."hidden Jews"...Marranos...anusim (this is the word in Hebrew)...pick whatever term you feel most comfortable with].

Dr. Abramson is exceptionally good at presenting what is often very convoluted history in understandable and interesting ways to general audiences---I understand he is also markedly popular with his university undergraduate and graduate students as well---and I am very much looking forward to what he has to say about the hidden Jews of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado.

Dorothy Wrote:-------------------------------------------------------> Some of my nurse friends theorized that this> disease meant incest and inbreeding were in a> victim’s background.>> I’m blaming all of the polygamy on my dad’s> side.

I have never heard of this before...and I thank you, Dorothy, for this post.

This possibility might, in future years, be of great value for me to know.

I did 23&me, no surprises, Irish and Eastern European (Polish). Smidges of other European nationalities like Scandinavian, German, but these were far back in time. Those Vikings went everywhere. I did reconnect with the daughter of a cousin in Canada I had lost touch with, but most of the many names they gave me were pretty distant cousins of some degree.

I did not opt for the health stuff, too much of an anxious hypocondriac to be told I MIGHT get something, especially something that cannot be cured. My husband thinks their health stuff is questionable and he knows much more about science than me.

It was kind of fun to do, but I really cannot relate to someone who shared a many times great-grandparent with me from 200 plus years ago. But I am not much into genealogy either.